Saturday Round-Up
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Saturday Round-Up
Bragging rights for Munster: Munster fans left Thomond Park in high spirits last night, as they comfortably overcame fiercest rivals Leinster in a comprehensive 28-13 win. Infront of a sellout crowd in Limerick, Munster built themselves a marginal 11-6 lead at the interval courtesy of a CJ Stander try in the 16th minute, along with a brace of Ian Keatley penalties, after he was preferred to JJ Hanrahan in the starting 10 jersey. Anthony Foley's men continued in a similar vein in the second period, with former Leinster man Andrew Conway coming back to haunt his old teammates. After seeing opposition winger Darragh Fanning sin-binned for needlessly infringing at the ruck, Conway crossed for the game's second five pointer in the opening 5 minutes of the second half, only to compound Matt O'Connor's woes. A third try for the hosts came courtesy of Dave O'Callaghan, with Leinster's stand-in skipper Shane Jennings earning his side a consolation score late on.
Three weeks for Hartley: Northampton Saints hooker Dylan Hartley has been handed a three week suspension for an incident which occurred during the Saints' recent clash with the Leicester Tigers. Hooker Hartley was found guilty of elbowing Tigers' Matt Smith in a recent Aviva Premiership encounter, and will be sidelined until the 11th of January. With initial fears of being absent for England's Six Nations Opener against Wales, Hartley's ban will see him return to action well in advance of the February 6th date. Having taken into account Hartley's previous record and his guilty plea, three weeks was deemed satisfactory punishment.
Ryan Sheady
